piranha
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of piranha
1865–70; < Portuguese < Tupi
Explanation
A piranha is a fish with famously sharp teeth. Don't go swimming in certain South American rivers if you want to avoid piranhas! These freshwater fish are terrifyingly described as "voraciously carnivorous," meaning they eat meat with great enthusiasm. Humans aren't often bitten by piranhas, but it does happen in some parts of South America. You also can't buy a piranha as a pet in many parts of the world — and if you do, it's best not to get two of them, since the weaker fish is often killed by the stronger one.
Vocabulary lists containing piranha
English Words Derived from Indigenous Languages of the Americas
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Amazing Animals, List 1
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South America - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They caught piranha, wolf fish, sting ray, which they ate along with adventure food rations, and drank water from the river.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2024
Directed by Pierre Perifel, “The Bad Guys” centers on a band of former criminals — a wolf, a piranha, a snake, a tarantula and a shark — on a mission to improve their villainous reputations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2022
White once said her character Sue Ann Nivens in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” could be “icky-sweet” but was “really a piranha type.”
From Washington Times ● Dec. 31, 2021
It becomes a big floaty bullfight, or — with enough players — a piranha feeding frenzy.
From The Verge ● Oct. 14, 2021
Mary Lou grabbed the ropes that had held her to Tane over the piranha tank.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
His latest work follows images that have popped up each morning since 5 August across London of a goat, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, a cat, piranhas and a rhinoceros.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2024
Despite their size, swarms of these insects can cause considerable damage by shredding plant life to bits like ravenous piranhas..
From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2024
Known as vegetarian piranhas, pacu can reach up to 1 meter long.
From Science Magazine ● Jan. 4, 2023
A black bear, a tortoise, meerkats, otters, elephants, hogs, hippos, jaguars, cassowaries, snow leopards, flamingos, piranhas, peccaries and howler monkeys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2021
Thus, the experience of suddenly being thrust into a crowd of boys was like being dumped into a pool of piranhas.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
